HARARE, Zimbabwe — President Robert Mugabe, one of Africa's most
combative and enduring rulers whose 24-year reign is under increasing attack at
home and abroad, shows no sign of mellowing with age as he turns 80 today.
In the days before his birthday, Mr. Mugabe pledged to fight what he
views as the efforts of Britain and the United States to topple his regime while
battling "economic saboteurs" at home. Mr. Mugabe's tough talk has been
accompanied by deepening state repression. Last week, he signed a presidential
decree authorizing detention without bail for up to four weeks for political and
economic offenses including corruption or money laundering. The
opposition Movement for Democratic Change described the decree — the latest in a
growing arsenal of repressive laws — as an undeclared state of emergency.
A slight, fidgety man, Mr. Mugabe is sub-Saharan Africa's
fourth-longest-ruling president after Togo's Gnassingbe Eyadema, Gabon's Omar
Bongo and Angola's Eduardo dos Santos. Once hailed as one of the
continent's great statesmen for his attempts to reconcile blacks and whites
after more than a decade of fighting, he has since been condemned as a tyrant
for rekindling racial hatred and sacrificing his country's economy in order to
cling to power. Mr. Mugabe led black guerrillas in the campaign against
the white-minority Rhodesian government, but sought to allay the fears of the
country's tiny white minority when he became Zimbabwe's first black leader after
independence from Britain in 1980. Many whites, who had been told by
their leaders that Mr. Mugabe planned to rape their women and shoot their men,
decided to stay after he promised that "there is a place for you in the sun."
With the help of white-owned commercial farms, Zimbabwe prospered and
developed into a regional breadbasket. Mr. Mugabe worked to bolster the nation's
health and education systems, making them among the best in Africa. But
the economy soured amid Zimbabwe's costly involvement in Congo's five-year war
and revelations of corruption. After voters rejected a constitutional
referendum in 2000 that would have consolidated Mr. Mugabe's powers, ruling
party officials accused white commercial farmers of bankrolling his opponents in
the Movement for Democratic Change. The president ordered the seizure of
thousands of white-owned farms for redistribution to blacks, touching off more
than three years of political violence that has claimed more than 200 lives and
hounded tens of thousands of mostly black-opposition supporters from their
homes. The land seizures, coupled with erratic rains, have crippled the
country's agriculture-based economy. Zimbabwe faces record inflation and
unemployment, along with acute shortages of food, hard currency, gasoline and
other imports. Mr. Mugabe has repeatedly dismissed rumors of failing
health and calls from within his own party to retire. "The president is
as fit as none of his detractors can ever hope to be in their lifetime," his
spokesman, George Charamba, said recently. Mr. Mugabe was narrowly
re-elected in 2002 in a vote that independent observers said was marred by
intimidation and vote-rigging. He has since stepped up a crackdown against
dissent, arresting opposition leaders and waging lengthy legal battles to shut
down the country's only independent newspaper. In an interview on the
government-controlled television network yesterday, Mr. Mugabe suggested he
would retire as president within five years. "In five years [I will be]
here still boxing, writing quite a lot, reading quite a lot, and still in
politics. I won't leave politics, but I will have retired, obviously," Mr.
Mugabe said. In a bid to clean up his ZANU-PF ruling party before the
elections, Mr. Mugabe has announced a new drive to fight top-level corruption.
Two senior ruling party officials were arrested earlier this year.
Analysts, however, dismiss the move as political cunning. "It is
all being stage-managed. He is not going to touch the really big guys but punish
only the ones he can afford to sacrifice," said John Makumbe, a political
scientist at the University of Zimbabwe.

Zimbawe's President Robert Mugabe, who is turning 80 on Saturday,
announced on Friday he would retire from power within five years.

In an
interview broadcast on state television and radio on the eve on his birthday,
Mugabe said in five years' time he would have retired but still be in
politics.

"In five years, (I will be) here, still boxing, writing quite a
lot, reading quite a lot and still in politics, I won't leave politics, but I
will have retired obviously," he said.

Mugabe, who has been at the helm
of the southern African country for nearly 24 years, since independence from
Britain in 1980, did not indicate that he would stand for re-election in the
next presidential polls due in 2008.

He was re-elected in March 2002
presidential polls which were disputed by the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) as fraudulent and marked with rights abuses.

Mugabe said
lobbying by the opposition for sanctions against him was "very wrong and very
condemnable" but said he was prepared to hold talks with the opposition and take
on their ideas.

"We are prepared to discuss with them the way
forward.

"But if they are going to now seek the hand of our enemy to
destroy our economy we begin to wonder whether they are for the people or
against the people," he said, referring to the MDC which lobbied for the renewal
of EU sanctions against Mugabe and his close associates.

On Thursday the
European Union extended the sanctions by another year, targeting Mugabe and 94
officials who are barred from entering the 15-nation bloc and have their assets
in Europe frozen.

The government has said the drive to place Mugabe under
sanctions is being led by Britain, the former colonial power, which has an issue
to solve with the southern African country over the controversial land reforms
of taking land from whites.

Mugabe, however, said not all European
countries shared the same views about Zimbabwe as British Prime Minister Tony
Blair.

He listed several countries in Europe who remain friendly towards
Zimbabwe, among them Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

"They
have to go with Europe as a team, the European Union, when decisions are made on
the basis of the majority, every member is bound to observe sanctions against
us."

But he went on to attack the British leader.

"Blair obviously
has always been a b-liar, he can never change his name can he?"

He also
criticised Britain's and the United States' war on Iraq.

"Mr Blair and Mr
Bush, they are twins, isn't it in telling lies?" he said.

He, however,
said his government preferred to work with the World Bank as opposed to the
International Monetary Fund.

"We have had quite a favourable relationship
with the World Bank ... we have not said 'down with them'," he said, promising
to re-pay debts owed to the international lender.

"But I am not so sure
with the IMF ... whether we are on good terms with them, whether we could go
back to them and invite them to help us, I doubt, because their ideas are
completely wrong," he said.

The two Bretton Woods institutions, which
still maintain offices in Harare, cut off aid to the country in the late 1990s
over disagreements over his government's policies. - Sapa-AFP

Robert Mugabe suggested yesterday in an interview marking his 80th
birthday that he would retire as Zimbabwe's president within five
years.

"In five years [I will be] here still boxing, writing quite a
lot, reading quite a lot and still in politics," he said. "I won't leave
politics but I will have retired, obviously."Mr Mugabe, 80 today, has been
in power since independence from Britain in 1980. He has left his retirement
plans open over the past year despite speculation that he wants a graceful exit
in the face of severe economic and political turmoil blamed by critics on his
misrule.He won another six-year term as president in 2002 polls claimed to
be fraudulent by the opposition and has previously dismissed speculation he
would not see out his term.Mr Mugabe denies mismanaging the economy of
Zimbabwe, which has record unemployment and inflation as well as shortages of
foreign currency, fuel and food. He says the economy has been sabotaged by
opponents of his forcible redistribution of white-owned farms.

James Verini's piece
about the US visa situation faced by highly reputed artists (Mr Ferrer can't be
with us tonight, Arts, G2, February 18) flags up just the tip of a large
iceberg. On top of the numerous delays, detentions and refusals, many other
artists have simply chosen to not even bother, leaving the US public even more
culturally isolated. The situation is better here. Ibrahim Ferrer will be in
Edinburgh on March 9 to receive his BBC Radio 3 Award For World Music, along
with Kazem El Saher from Iraq, Severara Nazarkhan from Uzbekistan and artists
from marginally less "suspect" countries like Poland, Mali, Senegal, Spain,
Belgium and Brazil.

But we shouldn't fall into a smug "only in America" mood. Only last week,
Zimbabwe's Stella Chiweshe had two of her musicians refused visas to the UK on
the grounds they might become illegal immigrants. We need to make sure the flow
of cultural exchange is maintained. It's one of the surest ways to promoting
global understanding. Ian AndersonEditorfRoots Magazine

Well, I received notification
today (Friday) at 1700 that the consultativeBudget meeting for Monday is on.
Dr Marunda phoned the Town Clerk thisafternoonto be sure as
well.

So I hope to see everyone on Monday, 23 February, 0900, in the
lecture hallatRowan Martin Building. Do not use the main entrance of the
tall buildingthatleads to the cashier's counters, but use the main door
of the shorterbuildingto the East (towards the city centre). Sign in and
go past the receptionist,down the stairs and turn right.

The full
Council meeting has now been moved to Tuesday, 24 February
2004.